norton was able to have that issue addressed in the national defense authorization act conference report. and so this is a measure which i believe really transcends political party, there's great bipartisan support for it and it also covers lots of important issues that do come back to our nation's security. and so i believe, mr. speaker, that as we look again at those five most important words from my perspective in the middle of the preamble of the u.s. constitution, providing for the common defense, that we are doing that and exactly that with this measure. so i encourage my colleagues to support this conference -- the rule and the conference report that we will have and i believe it will be of great benefit to our men and women in uniform and to the future security of the united states of america and our allies and i thank my friend for yielding me the 15 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. mcgovern: i yield 1 1/2 minutes to the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. altmire. mr. altmire: mr. speaker, as we begin debate on this